Beats Vinyl New Releases - News

The Amsterdam based Modern Obscure Music label launches a new sub-division named MOMArchives. MOMArchives is a reissue label that will focus on electronic music. All releases will be available on vinyl and also digitally.

The first release is Neocrystal by Japanese producer Yoshihiro Sawasaki. It is a fantastic slice of mid 90s Japanese Ambient Techno that needs to be heard by a larger audience. Yoshihiro Sawasaki is a Kyoto based producer who has released music under aliases such as Naturally Gushing and Doctor YS & the Cosmic Drunkards on labels like Sublime Records, Apollo Records and V2. Neocrystal was originally released on Sublime Records back in 1994. Sublime Records is an important label in the history of Japanese electronic music. The imprint has released music by domestic artists such as Susumu Yokota and Ken Ishii, as well as foreign talent such as Global Communications. The B Side to Neocrystal is Magic Dome. This was licensed to Dave Angel’s instalment of the legendary X-Mix series on Studio K7!

The first MOMArchives release begins with the ‘On The Beach’ mix of Neocrystal. It is a dreamy ambient track with gorgeous key washes and reverberating synthetics. It is followed by Magic Dome, a spacey keyed cut with bright synth play, subtle percussion and hypnotic key work. This is a wonderful archive release from Yoshihiro Sawasaki and it is a great start for MOMArchives.

Romantic Fiction - the debut LP from Curses - is an honest musical expression drawing influences from his youth growing up in NYC in the 80s. References to new wave, post-punk, synth music and early EBM are skillfully merged with the DIY approach of punk and rock n roll angst. Brandishing an immersive sonic palette, all instruments throughout the album were played and recorded by the artist

Slackk first came to the attention of most with an EP of roughneck UK house on Numbers, before a series of more emotive, melody-driven records on Local Action and Unknown to the Unknown saw him emerge as one of the most unique and influential artists working in the peripheries of grime - taking the genre's hallmarks and audio tattoos but placing them in a context that owed as much to Eastern mood pieces and the complex melodies of classic jazz records, hinting at other key influences on Slackk's music. His debut album Palm Tree Fire was a particular success: Resident Advisor calling it a 'beautiful glimpse into the mind of an under-appreciated producer'.

Slackk has since expanded the breath and honed the details of his music through a pair of EPs on R&S - first Backwards Light, a record that expanded on the themes of his previous releases while taking in the label's legacy of groundbreaking acid and techno, and then on the more abrasive Aviary. A Little Light, his first album for the label, is his most idiosyncratic and personal release yet.

Partially inspired by the upcoming birth of his first child, this album sees Slackk drop the tempo to an r&b 90bpm crawl on tracks like 'Spring Mist' and 'Zip Me Up', with the newfound space between his drums allowing his delicate melodies to grow and spiral like never before.

Although the LP looks forward, it's also nostalgic: 'Old Petchy Shows' is a reference to the last embers of UK Funky, arguably the final chapter of UK dance music to rely on traditional physical hubs like pirate radio and record stores, while 'Paper Santos' and 'Reasons' nod to early 2000s grime and house, both influences on Slackk in different ways. Elsewhere, 'So Far, The Sea' and 'And The Sun' are two of the most outright emotional songs that Slackk has written to date.

Although there are clear reference points dotted throughout A Little Light, more than anything - following several years of honing and developing a trademark sound - it simply sounds like Slackk; equal parts nostalgic and optimistic, delicate and clumsy, with an atmosphere that could either be sunset or sunrise depending on your vantage point. It's an album filled with uncertainty and individuality, utterly unconcerned with what's happening outside of its own world, and there's only one artist around who could have written it.

Electronic brutalist Somaticae distills a rage against surveillance software company ‘Amesys’ in his ferocious album of rhythmic digital noise for Mondkopf’s In Paradisum label, coming off like Pan Sonic using Takeshi Nakamura’s No Input Mixing Board in the process… Fuelled by a justifiable need to disseminate information about Amesys, a French company who have supplied discreet surveillance software to government organisations and dictatorships around the world - including Muamar Gaddafi’s Libya, the European Commission, and the French M.o.D. - Somaticae’s 3rd album for In Paradisum is framed around tense, weaponised sonics that act as metaphor for the relationship between France’s role as the 4th largest arms exporter in the world, and its emergent position as low key facilitator of “Big Brother”.
Finding Somaticae in his 13th year of operations, the project takes on a heavier meaning with its ‘AMESYS’.
In seven tense steps he affords scant relief from a raw, pulsating core of energy that he just about tames over the course of the album. Working right at the biting point of digital noise in patented style, he churns up squabbling patterns and sheer binary scree with a manacled grasp of loud/quiet dynamics that handles the listener from passages of gnashing tension to guttural spasms of bass and pelting, almost Frenchcore-style kicks.
Although recorded in the studio, the album’s livewire ruffness surely lives up to Somaticae’s notorious reputation for live, improvised performance in the European DIY scene to record. It’s a proper seat-edge listen that imparts its message in no uncertain terms, galvanising his audience to the struggle against deployment of facial recognition, and the inherent erosion of civil liberties, which are aided by Amesys and its offshoots, Nexa Technologies and AMES. The issue isn’t sci-fi any more; it’s real and impending

Following a well received string of releases on 'Analogical Force', 'Furthur Electronix' and 'Feel My Bicep' James Shinra makes his debut release on 20/20 Vision. Shinra displays his musical dexterity and diverse influences across this 4 track EP delving deeper into the realms of electro and techno.

'Route 909' serves up emotive melodies rooted down with a heavy kick before working the keys hard to maximum effect. 'Flyby' is a beautiful moment of electronic bliss reminiscent of the great Aphex Twin, while the acid soaked '1111' is a certified dance floor bomb.

Shinra isn't adverse to switching tempos and beats and can also deliver flawless techno. The cleverly structured and melodically complex 'On & On' rounds up the wax with a track that makes you want to drift away on the dance-floor, prepare to be transported to a future world where machines have emotions.

In 2020 Lagaffe Tales will introduce more artists on the BROT series on which Felix Leifur started ever so memorably with a head-turning trilogy.

The first artist to follow in his tracks is one of the driving forces and founder of Lagaffe Tales: Jónbjörn. In this release, he offers diverse four tracks that showcase a variety of production styles that he’s known for.

Lurking in the shadows of the underground since 2013, subtly shifting trends and creating new bass cultures with a firmly understated frame of mind, Itinerant Dubs resurface with three new dance experiments that cross the boundaries and join the dots with brutal simplicity of thought. No tricks, cheap thrills or passing tastes; this is pure UK heat coming straight from the machines to your needle. The opener, "Dub This", lashes out heavy 808 percussion amid a blur of sparse, jagged licks of acid, while "Human Emulation" uses electro science as its platform for dancehall annihilation, leaving "Three Four" to linger more placidly in a hazy, mid-air smoke that we've come to recognise as the apex Itinerant Dubs sound. Murderous and iconic. The shadows resurface.

Repress

First up is a reinvention from Coby Sey - the Lewisham, South London musician who's founded the Curl collective alongside Mica Levi and Brother May and collaborated with Babyfather, Klein and Tirzah, noted as one of the 50 best new artists of 2019 by the guardian. The tone and atmospherics of the original’s combination of synthesiser and woodwind are sliced into ghostly, mesmeric fragments and refitted in layers around loping, propulsive rhythms with something like UKG's steppiness - languid despite being uptempo, bright and almost gleeful despite the inescapable mournfulness of the source material.

Who’s The Technician? of Ireland's Wah Wah Wino label - turns in a remix that wrestles with the original over seven- and-a-half-minutes of relentlessly captivating deep digi-dancehall, less of a remix than a rebirth cycle, with the latent soul-splitting lament of Kolida Babo’s duduk copy-pasted onto a delirious mercurial lead rotating through hedonistic ecstasy and burnout, a snake-eating-its-own-tail of a version cracking open the third eye with a crowbar, plus a post- apocalyptic, ruthlessly space-invading dub that blasts the remix’s scale out to the starkest retreats of the universe in search of...

Belgian artist Bernard Zwijzen, aka Sonmi451, has for over a decade now been quietly making some of the most luscious ambient we've heard here at AI-HQ. We are delighted to announce him as part of the Astral family with this six-track EP - Nachtmuziek - sit back, tune in and drift away.

For its second installment Subject To Restrictions Discs presents a split EP by two of Switzerland’s most underrated producers. First there is CCO. A modular wizard known from his involvement in groups such as Wavetest and Savage Grounds. He presents two Techno cuts that are bound in organic sounds and filled with driving energy. The three mellow cosmic wave tracks on the back are coming from Narco Marco. He’s active in Bern’s music and nightlife scene for almost 30 years. His music knowledge is legendary and shows itselfs in his productions which are filled with sparkling details.

Modern electro tracks on Fundamental Record that comes with nice silkscreen printed sleeves in the same color of the vinyl record.

White Vinyl 10"

A new release this winter marks a landmark moment in an important musical story. Way back in little 2009, the label hfn music was born in Hamburg, and made its introduction to the world with the release of the Trentemøller compilation Harbour Boat Trips: 01 Copenhagen.
Founder Tobias Lampe wanted to start a label that was more broad in scope than his previous, more electronic-focused projects, and the compilation provided the perfect opportunity to launch one. In the 10 years since then, the label has survived the whirlpool waters of the early 21st century’s constantly changing music industry, and released everything from pop to art-punk, with artists ranging from New York to the Faroe Islands.
Now, they’re about to put out their 100th release. Fittingly, given the label’s focus on new and innovative music, and the historic aspect of the release, hfn100 sees one of hfn’s best songs of 2019 put into the hands of the man it all started with, Anders Trentemøller. His Danish compatriots Blaue Blume’s new album Bell Of Wool is one of hfn’s standout releases this year, and so hfn100 sees Trentemøller remix one of that record’s standout tracks, the fragile, but soaring “Lovable”.
In Blaue Blume’s original, “Lovable” is an airy, tormented song, a gossamer-delicate composition that carefully stitches together layers and layers of shining synths that gradually build up and up into a peak, before crashing into a subtle beat, a musical journey that mirrors vocalist Jonas Smith’s trip from anguish to numbness. Whereas the original’s music sounds woven together from light, Trentemøller takes it into darker territory. He hooks the song to a harsh, sparse beat leaving Smith’s vocals bare and isolated in the burnt-out, dystopic musical landscape he creates.
Trentemøller mirrors the original’s careful building up, adding new elements to fill in the song’s sound, before it collapses into a tough, noir disco groove. It’s a perfectly realised remix – Trentemøller keeps the original song’s skeleton and soul, but fills in the space with sonic touches that could be no one else’s but his.Ultimately, it’s a fitting song for hfn’s hundredth release. For a label that’s always been a platform for its boundary-pushing artists, a collaboration between two of them, that sees an already innovative song pushed into a bold new shape is the perfect way for hfn to step into the next 100 releases..

CHI started in the late punk years in the early eighties. A time of change and mind-blowing albums. We started doing sound experiments in an old farm in Moordrecht (thanks to Jan van Rhee and Kees van der Veer). In the summer, all the doors and windows were open; birds flew in and out. In the distance we saw the highway to Rotterdam. In the winter we sat close together, no heating, only blankets, candles and brandy.
We did sessions of 3 days and nights. We brought a full PA-system for every session (thanks to Jurgen and Fijko) to get the right feel. Usually we played from the late morning untill sunrise. Fijko was playing his spacey videos and projecting trippy slideshows. Jurgen was creating all kind of effects and recording everything.We used the Commodore 64 to create sequences. We had two synths (a Juno 60 and JX3P), a few guitars, an old Revox tapedeck for loops (some loops were 7 metres long running past bottles) and a lot of weird handmade instruments, percussion, bamboo flutes; an old, broken piano, a small Philicorda organ and various effects like water, shaken yogurt (Soppin), mouth-sounds, street-noises, etc.
Essentially, the music is half electronic, half acoustic. What made it special is that we also performed it live. We brought our personal hifi-sets on stage for easy listening comfort. We carried 7 monitors for the video and had 3 big screens for slideshows.
Highlights were our premiere at Lantaren/Venster (Rotterdam, 1986 - 2 nights sold out, thanks to Theo Hensen) and our Paradiso (Amsterdam, 1987) show on the main stage broadcast live on national radio. We ended up with a bunch of punks and freaks, but they really loved it.Our cassette was a collectors item at the legendary Amsterdam based label and record store Staalplaat. They released a CD 15 years later in 2000 on their new label Container Music. Now, 30 years later, Astral Industries (thanks to Ario Farahani) releases an exclusive vinyl limited edition. We've added the track 'Hopi', which was previously only released on cassette. It's a track that I made as a guideline for CHI in 1984, featuring a Hopi elder speaking of Hopi prophecies and the future of the world. Who knows what may happen next....

Heinrich Dressel was an archaeologist, epigraphist and numismatist, creator of a table, still in use, for the cataloging of Roman amphorae. For over ten years, one of the founders of MinimalRome, Valerio Lombardozzi, has embraced the name of the German scholar, becoming both the guardian of a dense collection of sounds from the past and the creator of new brilliant electronic ones. “Completion Of The Amphoras Table”, originally released on cd by Legowelt's Strange Life Records, was the final chapter of the so-called 'Studium Amphorae Trilogy', a triptych of albums which tried to 'evoke' in notes not only the discoveries and the studies of Monte Testaccio's fragments made by the former pupil of Theodor Mommsen.
The first vinyl release of “Completion Of The Amphoras Table”, curated by Souterraine.org and Envlp_Imprint, fills not only a recording void, but also gives posterity a remarkable album to rediscover, worthy successor of “Mons Testaceum” (2007 ) and “Escape From The Hill” (2008),
which reconstructs one more time the ghostly atmosphere of a Rome at the dawn of the 20th century. Heinrich Dressel adopts the stylistic features of gloomy soundtracks and, above all, relies on a set of polyphonic synthesizers that, starting from the rare Elka Syntex, favor the composition of abstract textures, punctuated by some appropriate variations, and harmonies which, net of the
deep bass, make every single track even more magnetic.

Paranorman are back with 3 expertly-crafted club torpedoes!

Hot double LP of beats and scattered rhymes (JPEGMAFIA, Retro X & Jeshi feature) from this highly inventive producer. Having gained notoriety for his work with Frank Ocean and Travis Scott among others, Only Diamonds Cut Diamonds is overjoyed, heady and nervous at once. It offers a proper introduction to the massively imaginative sound of Vegyn. 2 slabs of vinyl, including insert and stickers. Ltd edition. TIP!

SDEM aka Tom Knapp lands on CPU with a cybernetic electro E.P. entitled 'Index Hole'.

4 tracks of exploratory electronics held together with expertly crafted - hip hop influenced beats. Knapp ran the legendary IDM label ICASEA with Team Doyobi member Alex Peverett and Satoshi Aizawa. Index Hole is certain to ease your Icasean withdrawal symptoms. Fans of ICASEA, Skam and the Gescom crew don't miss this.

Coletivo Vandalismo kick-start a new 12" series for the Contort Yourself label. Hailing from the city of Porto the duo also DJ under the name GAM and released their debut LP on Lake Haze's Eye For An Eye label. Their music has an immediacy that seems to stem from a background in live performance as opposed to polished studio sessions - an improvisational punk aesthetic that manages to carry this EP so strongly. Wild, crashing fx and unrecognisable vocal distortions layer atop wonky 90bpm drum machine grooves and the pair even show off what may be their turntablism skills on 'Zombie Zombie'. There's a nod to early concrete on the closing track 'Black Sun's Demise' with whirring, mechanical noise motifs suddenly jolting us into punishing gabber-at-33-minus-8 territory. The DIY spirit is alive and well here and the feeling that things could fall apart at any minute just adds to the tension.

Electric Sewer Age’s »Contemplating Nothingness« is a lysergic tapestry culled from the deep end of the collective pop cultural unconscious. The project was originally started anonymously by the late Peter »Sleazy« Christopherson (of Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV and, most notably, Coil) together with Coil affiliate and seasoned remixer Danny Hyde, who continued the project together with John Deek, who passed away in 2013. »Contemplating Nothingness« is the third release by Electric Sewer Age and the second one that Hyde finished alone. Having previously been only available on CD, it is now re-released by the Swiss Hallow Ground imprint on vinyl both as a standalone release and as a strictly limited bundle together with »Svay Pak,« Hyde’s 2011 EP under his Aural Rage moniker.

Hyde left his imprint on many of Coil’s seminal albums such as »Love’s Secret Domain«, co-produced Pop Will Eat Itself’s »Very Metal Noise Pollution« and remixed a diverse roster of artists such as Nine Inch Nails, Scorn, Chris & Cosey, Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia or Depeche Mode. With his work as Electric Sewer Age, he explores the vast open space between the dark psychedelic aesthetics that he has helped establishing together with John Balance and his long-time collaborate Christopherson with a postmodernist approach that is deeply rooted in studio practice and sampling.

On »Contemplating Nothingness,« disembodied voices mingle with subdued rhythms, muffled harmonies or menacing string themes. Over just a little bit more than half an hour, Hyde conjures up traditional and contemporary production techniques and genres like plunderphonics, Leyland Kirby’s V/VM project or early vaporwave, all while retaining his singular voice. Throbbing industrial gives way to jazz-inflected quasi-rap, autotune balladry and ethno ambient, before closing on eerily alienated synth pop sounds and a stunning exercise in psychedelic minimalism. »Contemplating Nothingness« is an album as surreal and beautiful as a half-remembered dream, constantly navigating through the liminal zone of the familiar and the great unknown.

Yes sophmore release brings us a 6-track EP by label's founder Stevie Whisper including collabs with Andria, 33.10.3402, Wilson and Mystee.

Nofield music with some spoken-word-shoegaze. Belgrade all in.

Third volume of the series MATERIAL ELÉCTRICO this time released on vinyl. Compilation of international mutant electronic underground.

A tour around experimental electronics covering abstract rythms (Santiago, Black Zone Myth Chant), industrial new ebm beat (Celldöd, Klack, Violet Poison, Bässt), minimal wave (Circa Tapes, Sam de la Rosa) and the great collaboration between Sam De La Rosa & Kyle Dixon (Survive, Stranger things soundtrack)

Limited edition of 260 copies. Mastered at Sountes Studio. Artwork by Joni Kosmos and typogragpy by Israel Pinilla.

10x12" Boxset

Fundamental Records celebrate their 10 Years with the project they love the most, the Time Capsule aka 808 Box. This is the 6th 808 box and with the 10 new records included in this 808 Box, Fundamental Records have released a total of 56 vinyl records as part of this project, showcasing modern electro in all its varieties. This wooden box includes 10 vinyl records, 66 tracks by artists from each corner of the world, more than 5 hours of pure electro by Acidulant, Alek Stark, Aquatronics, Brice Kelly, Carl Finlow, CEM3340, Cignol, Cygnus, Das Muster, Datawave, Dibu-Z, Digitizer, DVS, NME, Faceless Mind, Foreign Sequence, Franck Kartell, Heimelektronik, Holtz Inkamera, Johan Inkinen, Kan3da, Kind Human Being, Kitbuilders, Kuldaboli, LCTR, Luke Eargoggle, MagikBitum, MetaComplex, Methylgruppe, Microlith, Moodex, Mr Velcro Fastener Mutex, N-Ter, Nebenprodukt, Noamm, Noise&Noise, Nullptr, Obergman, Planetology, Plant43, Proto, Reedale Rise, Repeat Eater, Scape One, Sound Synthesis, T-Error, The Abstract Eye, Vema-Diodes, Vertical Dimension and Viewtiful Joe. Additionally comes with pictures of the original Roland TR-808 in each cover, a high quality t-shirt and certificate of the limited edition.

Were you ever really here? Plug in to the history of feeling with four beautiful cuts of post-genre sentimentalism from YS. Traversing the landscape of urban emotion, the duo find solace in the momentary states of being in this post-internet epoch. On the A-side ‘Music Angel’ and ‘Dreams We Share’ explore the processing of healing through poignant dub and empathetic ambience. On the flip, B1 ‘Touch’ raises the tempo with a timeless slab of ghetto nostalgia straight from the early days of Databass Records. Closing things is ‘The Future’, a bold not-so-sanguine gambit around the end of modern times; truly a beast of its own. So here it is - now and always x

Official remastered limited edition of Cellophane project from 1984 produced by Alessandro Novaga, one of THE major influences on Chicago House Music with his trio of releases -Drums-, -Electronic Drums- and -Faces Drums-, all essentially EPs of tough electronic bonus beats, creating the blueprint for many early Windy City productions. He was also behind other such hugely influential cuts as Stopps -Im Hungry- and -Ali Shuffle- by Camaros Gang. Here on his Cellophane album, which came after the huge -Gimme Love- single, we get what I guess you could describe as his magnum opus. The album consists of just two long tracks (or suites perhaps?) that take the listener of on an epic psychedelic italo /space disco trip like no other. Heavy use of synths and drum machines expecially on the part 3 !

'This album was created over the course of 2017-2018 and is heavily influenced by descriptions of landscape and environment in the work of authors Shusaku Endo, J.G. Ballard and Cormac McCarthy. Fragments from a land that is a largely silent place. An ancient place. A non-place. A wilderness.'

Not Waving aka Alessio Natalizia is back. His Human Capabilities album was one of the highlights of the label in 2014, so it seems only right to get 4 artists to create their own unique versions for this EP. Starting with Pye Corner Audio, Martin Jenkins solo proto-electronica project has been a growing success since fist putting his cult tape recordings to vinyl. A great live performance at Cafe Oto got the label wanting more and the recent split LP release with Not Waving on Ecstatic Recordings made a remix
inevitible and he does not disappoint. 7 minutes of brooding, slo-mo dub dance s a perfect opening, haunting and searching in equal measure. This is followed by the new project from Valentina Magaletti (Shit & Shine) and Tom Relleen (The Oscillation). Tomaga's recent debut LP Futura Grotesk is a mesh of live expermenation of electronica meets percussive, kosmiche interplay and worth checking. Taking the industrial loops of the original they provide a improvised jam of drums, bass and anything to hand to trip the light fantastic. Perfect. On the flp, we head for the dark corners of a (techno) basement via L/F/D/M's remix of Double Blind. With releases on Optimo Trax and Clan Destine Trax, Richard Smith's project seemed perfect to take
on the industrial dance of the original. Stripping things right back, the core of the track is looped incessantly for maximum intensity before far away melodies bring you back again. Finally, the EP closes with a wonderous remix from drone specialist Abul Mogard. With his recent SchleiBen split series LP on the label, Abul is again at his best, taking the melodic ambience of the original and modulating it in to a brooding and emotional remix that is a perfect marraige of the artists minds.

After a digital single on Optimo Music Digital Danceforce, Optimo Music welcomes Bergsonist to the main label with a full album. Ridiculously talented and prolific, Bergsonist is one of thee most interesting, thoughtful and important artists of our times.

Bergsonist aka Selwa Abd is a New York–based artist and musician originally from Morocco. She is the founder of Bizaarbazaar, a music platform and publication that publishes podcasts and interviews by DJs and producers from around the world.

Under the guise Bergsonist (derived from Deleuze’s Bergsonism),
she uses a variety of media to investigate social resonance through divergent conceptual aesthetics (minimalism, techno, and music concrete, to name a few). Through her work, she explores notions of identity, memory, and social politics.

In 2017, she started Pick Up The Flow, a resource to promote congregation and exchange between peers. Currently, co-run with Stephen Decker. In 2019, she co-founded 3afak with DJ Sanna, a collective that aims to empower Arab women’s creative vision in
New York.


Words about the album:

Middle Ouest is an ode to my history, present and future self. Like a sonic autobiography, It’s the first body of work that realistically depicts my identity. It’s a statement towards all the people who tried to put me into a box. I’m not a box but a genre-less ocean. I don’t make genres, I just make music I feel making in the moment.

It’s all about capturing the moment in a given time. If the aesthetic happens to be house or techno then it is. But I’m not a techno artist... I’m just a free sonic ‘voyageur’. I make music as i feel the world; it can be dark, jovial, weird… I mirror the feelings into sonic compositions. However, the only variables that never change in this equation are the message and intention.

"In 2015, it remains a rare and enchanting thing to hear a piece of convergence culture this effortless; which, after all (...) may be one reason Utakata still sounds so otherworldly." by Pitchfork 8.5 -
"best new reissue" - 25 September 2015.

The 1983 cult classic 'Mariah - Utakata No Hibi' sees it's re-release
for the first time. The long sought after final record on the legendary Better Days label, Utakata No Hibi is the culmination of composer and bandleader Yasuaki Shimizu's early 80's work, often compared to his contemporaries Ryuichi Sakamoto and Haruomi Hosono, as well as experimental new wavers Flying Lizards/David Cunningham, all of whom Shimizu has worked with.

Recognized in Japan for the hit, 'Shinzo No Tobira,' the entire record is a masterful studio production of Japanese folk and pop idioms filtered through a chamber disco, new wave, synth production, sounding more relevant today than upon it's release over 30 years ago.

The packaging features additional artwork from Ira Okudaira, who created the original stunning jacket drawings. It retains the original double 12" 45 rpm play format, and includes a full English translation of the Japanese and Armenian lyrics on the printed inner sleeves.

RIYL: Blood Orange, YMO, Arthur Russell, Julee Cruise.
'PFRLP003' Repressed & Reissued; Limited numbers.

Experimental German Rock & Electronic Music from 1971-81. This latest instalment in Soul Jazz Records' successful Deutsche Elektronische Musik series delves deeper into the German nation's vaults to bring a fascinating new collection that again brings together a selection of classic German electronic and rock groups, including Neu!, Cluster, Popol Vuh, La Düsseldorf, Agitation Free, alongside a host of rare tracks by lesser known artists which includes Michael Bundt, Bröselmaschine, Dronsz, Achim Reichel and others.

The music of 'Deutsche Elektronische Musik 3' ranges from the introverted pastoralism of Hans Joachim Roedelius and Bröselmaschine, to the angular and futuristic electronic experimentations of Klauss Weiss, Pyrolator, Deuter, Michael Bundt and others, to the proto-punk of La Düsseldorf and the heavy space, progressive and cosmic rock of Missus Beastly, Niagara and Dyzan.

The music on 'Deutsche Elektronische Musik 3' was all recorded in the 1970's up to the early 1980's, at a time when forward-thinking German electronic and rock groups were searching for a new musical identity in order to separate themselves from both the cultural legacy of post-world war two Germany as well the 'cultural imperialism' of USA and UK rock.
In this process German groups created some of the most unique and inspired music, the defining motorik beat alongside a host of ethno-musical influences from far afield - including Turkey, India, Brazil - as well as the musical and futurist possibilities of developments in electronics and technology itself.

"Deutsche Elektronische Musik 3" is released as a heavyweight 3x12", deluxe double CD pack and digital release. The new extensive sleevenotes are by David Stubbs, who is the author of the acclaimed book, 'Future Days: Krautrock and the Building of Modern Germany' (Faber & Faber).

Lovely album from artist and musician Dolphin Midwives (aka Sage Fisher) using harp, voice and electronic processing. It's a controlled and dynamic album that blends the organic with the digital, resulting in a body of work that fuses the tranquility and intense strength of the natural world. Recommended!

The album was recorded in early 2018 by Jason Powers (The Decemberists, Chromatics, Matthew Dear) at Type Foundary, and mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri at Black Knoll Studio (Alva Noto, Ryuichi Sakamoto).

Welcome to Lyla's world. Getting things moving with the five track VA is 'Exile', straight off the mark with a pacey affair from TC80, spiralling you in to a whirlwind, teeing things up perfectly for what is to come. Taking it back with the '1996 Shoots'. Released over twenty years ago on a limited run by legendary producer Ivan Iacobucci, he has dug deep in the archives and remastered for your listening pleasure. Opia regular Audri shows his cards again on the label bringing the 'Acid Rain', definitely packing a punch. The South American B side features tracks from both Omar and Z@p. Intelligently arranged broken drums carry you through 'Techno Victim'. Z@p swings in to round off the EP with a driven dancefloor mover entitled 'Different ways'.

As winter strikes, the summery SFV Acid reappears fully-fledged with some sluggish San Fernando Valley funk and his signature acidic aesthetics. Mostly slow-burning tracks that meander the boulevards, twitchy due the right dose of acid and vocal jabs scattered across. It's always summer in the valley.

Employing a toolkit of cutting-edge DSP, Swarm Intelligence reimagines classic rave frameworks for dancefloors of the future. "Ultraware" traces a path through electro, big beat, jungle and acid - optimising and reconstructing until only fragmented traces remain. Following up from his widely acclaimed "Against the Dying Light" album, this EP marks a new shift in the ever-evolving Swarm Intelligence sound. A relentless explorer of audio technology, here he utilizes spectral processing alongside convolution and granular synthesis to craft a gritty sonic repository for the four tracks. Even in moments when the sequences disintegrate into chaos before reassembling into a coherent form, there is never a feeling that Swarm Intelligence is not in full control - this is an artist who thrives on complexity.

Deriving from the acclaimed performance and exhibition — staged by Anne Imhof at the 57th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia and awarded the Golden Lion for Best National Participation— the album Faust is part documentation and part elaboration, the sonic capture and extrapolation of the gestures, intensities, and durations of the live event.

Serving as the dramatic backbone of a several-hour long performance seen by thousands over the course of the Biennial, the soundtrack was a product of the collective and its individuals, animating and organising the performers while immersing the audience in the potent images of power and paradise.

The music for Faust was written in a band-like process by Imhof and her close collaborators Billy Bultheel, Eliza Douglas, and Franziska Aigner during the months leading up to it's premiere at the opening of the German Pavilion in Venice. From the chaos of the performative, the album is constructed out of live recordings and original arrangements, teasing out the most potent strands and weaving them into a new composition of brutal feeling and baroque intricacy,
each track a testament to the energy that brought it into being.

Faust is anchored around three pieces — Medusa’s Song, O.W.E.N., and Queen Song — written and sung by performers Eliza Douglas and Franziska Aigner, whosesonorous and elegiac voices imbue the work as a whole with their crushing depths and dolorous moods. Between these urgent vocal interventions march and twist the winding fugues and electronic abstractions of Billy Bultheel, who has dismantled and reassembled the sonic landscapes of the pavilion, crafting new
arrangements that couple the forcefulness of the physical encounter with the artifice of the studio.

Throughout the album and culminating in its closing act — the brutal chorus of Douglas’ Faust’s Last Song, a pulsing canon of looped and layered voice pierced by black metal screams.Faust is the record of a lost event and the promise of a new creation. The release of Faust illustrates the centrality of music to Imhof’s artistic practice. Her musical collaborations with Bultheel began in 2013, and this generative constellation expanded to include the contributions of Douglas and Aigner, together scoring Imhof’s Angst (2016) and recently her performance trilogy Sex (2019).

A Credible Eye Witness teams up with enigmatic Ghost Ride to create a new aesthetic and musical identity to his ACEW project. Loud yet energetic "Stellar Tunes" introduces four dancefloor electro cuts characterized by European noir tones and US funk sororities. From the Detroitish influences of opener "Sound Odyssey" to the ultimate 90's groove of synth pop 'Political Collapse', passing through the cosmic analog style of emotional "Purple Sky" or the hammering vibes of psychedelic "Obsidian", the 12' brilliantly combines acid abstract sounds, experimental and structural elements that underline the mastery of Emilio Urbano in developing original and intricate electro music. 'Stellar Tunes' sees the Italian moving on a bit from his first productions to explorate funkier landscapes. Expect nothing but electro at its finest!

The new album by Robert Piotrowicz does not fit any category. What this multicoloured electronic instrumentation aims to channel is the acoustic experience and energy of the performing musician. As a result of a wide range of creative means used, the narrative language of the compositions bursts withtension and mystery.

The album includes slow hypnotic passages of stone electronics (“To Fleh”), vigorous tempos and circular repetitions (“Euzo Found Gitar”), sprawling artificial soundscapes, back-to-origins ethnicity (ethnical subsoil and elements) liberated from any geographical identity (“Ocarina Wars”), as well as dreamlike minimalism with unpretentious cinematographic traits (“Flares Et Wasser Hole”). Some of these unusual melodic patterns may resemble the corporality of the animal throat rather than any human-created instrument (“Electros Spong”).

Although Euzebio was recorded with synths, the final shape of individual tracks and the album’s overall acoustic image go far beyond any electronic genre. The instruments have not become a goal in itself. They were merely a building block, a tool that helped achieve the album’s extended structure - a diverse whole with rich spatial features.

All sounds performed and recorded by Robert Piotrowicz on Buchla and Serge synthesizers at EMS Elektronmusikstudion in
Stockholm 2013/2014. composed, mixed and premastered by Robert Piotrowicz artwork and photos: Robert Piotrowicz design
and layout: Lasse Marhaug special thanks: Ocarina Jones and Tomasz Gil mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M Berlin
Produced by Musica Genera

12" (Clear Vinyl, Limited) +CD+3 Posters

As a follow-up to the Roads series, it is in the Faroe Islands that the prodigy of the French electro scene, Thylacine, decided to record his new EP on board his Airstream caravan.

This Vol 2 is the continuation of a creative journey, the story of which begins on board the Transsiberian, the famous train that links Moscow to Vladivostok where he recorded his first album (2015), which revealed him to the scene.

He continued his journey with the Airstream caravan, transformed into a mobile studio and with which he travelled along the Andes Mountains on the Argentinean side to write his second album, Roads Vol.1.

These four new tracks tell the story of the wild and powerful environment of the Faroe Islands. Eysturoy subtly combines the aerial melodies of Moderat with the techno power of Paul Kalkbrenner. The amazing voice of the Faroese diva Eivør.
Saksun transports into Nordic atmospheres with the presence of strings in an ethereal and minimalist style.

Stormur is reminiscent of the hypnotic tablecloths of a Jon Hopkins. Alda projects a bewitching electronica where Thylacine's favourite instrument, the saxophone, mixes with the sound of the waves.

Gafacci is well known for notable artist collaborations, eclectic edits and his Asokpor productions. On this new four track EP, he steps out of familiar soundscapes, driven by his steady desire to ex-plore a more melodic side of his own production style. This led him to experimenting with the ,Lo-Fi' and infuse it with afrobeats as well as diverse tropical sounds.
Over the past three years, the Accra based producer, DJ and songwriter Gafacci had been circulating around the term ,Low Fidelity' and he dedicates this album to all those across the globe who can relate and support the music.
The Title ,TASH BNM', meaning ,Tash bought new music' is inspired by the notifications of a music connoisseur's weekly purchases on bandcamp.

Noteworthy are also the featured artists, from multi instrumentalist Nii Quaye to Chefbanku, singer Amaarae, Ghana Music's OG Kyekyeku and rappers Tinuke & Lazee, each guest complements to this timeless piece of music in their own unique way.

"In his solo work and as a member of Nine Inch Nails, Alessandro Cortini's music casts the listener into an intricately rendered vortex of emotive dynamics,where he expertly maximises the boundaries of contemporary electronic music. His new album, 'Volume Massimo,' combines his fondness for melody with the rigour of experimental practice. Follows on from 2017's universally acclaimed album ‘Avanti. 8 tracks of deftly arranged synthesizers saturated with sonic artefacts and luscious pop sensibilities.
+ Includes download code."